Merfake Semret, MD
Nephrology · Rochester, MNNPI 1700093176
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $1,330 of the $1,622 with a category attached, or 82.0%. It is spread thinly across 18 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 13.5% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. 2025 is the largest year on record at $523, 2.2 times the $235 reported in 2019.
Across 72 payments — averaging $22.53 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$219
- Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$193
- GSK$174
- Amgen$144
- Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.$98
- Ardelyx, Inc.$97
- plus $697 from 12 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,33082%
- Education$29218%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 5 | $219 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 17 | $193 |
| GSK | 4 | $174 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 7 | $144 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 5 | $98 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 4 | $97 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 5 | $93 |
| AstraZeneca | 5 | $88 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $83 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 3 | $73 |
| Novartis | 2 | $65 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 2 | $61 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 3 | $55 |
| Bayer | 3 | $53 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $48 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $28 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 2 | $27 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $23 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
- BENLYSTA$120
How this compares
$1,622 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 208 nephrology providers in Minnesota.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| VelphoroSucroferric Oxyhydroxide | 18 | $58,598 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 47 | $34,569 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 20 | $18,221 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 29 | $15,981 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 32 | $12,552 |
| Tacrolimus | 12 | $2,024 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 108 | $1,504 |
| Potassium Chloride | 25 | $1,206 |
| Colchicine | 14 | $1,116 |
| Telmisartan | 28 | $1,001 |
| Calcitriol | 69 | $961 |
| Losartan Potassium | 118 | $940 |
| Calcium Acetate | 13 | $660 |
| Spironolactone | 37 | $466 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 87 | $396 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.Velphoro | $98 | $58,59818 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $48 | $34,56947 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $88 | $15,98129 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 80th percentile of 208 nephrology providers in Minnesota.
Other nephrology in Rochester
- Neera DahlRochester$102K
- Fernando FervenzaRochester$102K
- Nelson LeungRochester$32K
- John LieskeRochester$31K
- Leticia RolonRochester$30K
- Nattawat KlomjitRochester$25K
- Ladan ZandRochester$25K
- Marie HoganRochester$19K
- Kianoush Banaei KashaniRochester$19K
- Aleksandra KuklaRochester$12K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.